I don't have one particular academic memory from elementary or middle school that really influenced and shaped me, but I certainly wouldn't be who I am today without my best friend David - who I met on the very first day of kindergarten! When I got home from school that day, I was sitting outside with my grandmother when he rode by on a tricycle- we lived two houses away from each other! And from that moment on, we spent all our time together. We also realized quickly that we worked well together, or, as well as kindergarteners can 'work'. When we started really learning to read and write, I got the hang of it - whereas David was stuck. He had a lot of trouble with just about everything we were supposed to try and do related to the English language. Luckily, I could help him! But then we started learning basic math: adding and subtracting. And to me it was the most challenging thing ever. To David, he had finally found his niche, and he got really excited learning how the numbers worked, while I was consumed with wanting to learn more about stringing together full sentences. We adored our teachers and we loved school, and learning. Though it was only Kindergarten, we pretty much stayed the same all the way to our high school graduation. Because we loved teaching each other, and eventually becoming tutors in high school, we sort of had a mutual epiphany that we wanted to be teachers, and hopefully emulate some of our favorite things about the teachers we had throughout the years. And now, we're both going to college to major in Secondary Education! Except his double major is math, and mine is Spanish. Without having such supportive teachers in elementary school that fostered a happy, warm environment for us, we might have turned out differently. Instead of thriving on challenge and enjoying to learn, we may have grown to resent our teachers and any work they gave us. It was in elementary school that we first learned the difference a great teacher can make - and also how a bad teacher can affect a student. I think for most kids, in elementary school you're still excited to learn. A challenge is something exciting, sort of like an adventure! Kids just want to soak everything up, and after elementary school, that desire to learn can fade. Looking back on it now, I see how important it is that a child's desire to learn be protected and fueled so they retain it all the way through their education, even through college. Perhaps without having met David, who was just as excited as I was, I would never have had much of a thing for school. If I hadn't had Mrs. Banahan, my Kindergarten teacher, who encouraged students to help each other, I might have never discovered the joy of watching someone light up when something finally clicks in their head. I'm not sure if that was academic enough, but I sure hope it suffices. It seems pretty important to me. The people you meet and befriend can have a huge impact on your life, and who you turn out to be!
I don't have one particular academic memory from elementary or middle school that really influenced and shaped me, but I certainly wouldn't be who I am today without my best friend David - who I met on the very first day of kindergarten! When I got home from school that day, I was sitting outside with my grandmother when he rode by on a tricycle- we lived two houses away from each other! And from that moment on, we spent all our time together. We also realized quickly that we worked well together, or, as well as kindergarteners can 'work'. When we started really learning to read and write, I got the hang of it - whereas David was stuck. He had a lot of trouble with just about everything we were supposed to try and do related to the English language. Luckily, I could help him! But then we started learning basic math: adding and subtracting. And to me it was the most challenging thing ever. To David, he had finally found his niche, and he got really excited learning how the numbers worked, while I was consumed with wanting to learn more about stringing together full sentences. We adored our teachers and we loved school, and learning. Though it was only Kindergarten, we pretty much stayed the same all the way to our high school graduation. Because we loved teaching each other, and eventually becoming tutors in high school, we sort of had a mutual epiphany that we wanted to be teachers, and hopefully emulate some of our favorite things about the teachers we had throughout the years. And now, we're both going to college to major in Secondary Education! Except his double major is math, and mine is Spanish. Without having such supportive teachers in elementary school that fostered a happy, warm environment for us, we might have turned out differently. Instead of thriving on challenge and enjoying to learn, we may have grown to resent our teachers and any work they gave us. It was in elementary school that we first learned the difference a great teacher can make - and also how a bad teacher can affect a student. I think for most kids, in elementary school you're still excited to learn. A challenge is something exciting, sort of like an adventure! Kids just want to soak everything up, and after elementary school, that desire to learn can fade. Looking back on it now, I see how important it is that a child's desire to learn be protected and fueled so they retain it all the way through their education, even through college. Perhaps without having met David, who was just as excited as I was, I would never have had much of a thing for school. If I hadn't had Mrs. Banahan, my Kindergarten teacher, who encouraged students to help each other, I might have never discovered the joy of watching someone light up when something finally clicks in their head. I'm not sure if that was academic enough, but I sure hope it suffices. It seems pretty important to me. The people you meet and befriend can have a huge impact on your life, and who you turn out to be!